Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant. In 1271 he initiated a journey following the Silk Road that took him to the court of Kublai Khan, the last ruler of the Mongol Empire, in China. When he returned, he told all of his stories to a friend, who wrote them down and later published them in a book called The travels of Marco Polo. 

He described the incredible journeys and life in the Far East. This work fascinated others and made them more interested in learning about those distant lands.

Europeans got exotic products from Asia and North Africa through the Silk Road, a trade route that linked Constantinople to China. Nevertheless, in 1453, the Turks conquered Constantinople and occupied the Byzantine Empire, disrupting the Silk Road. Consequently, European merchants needed to find other routes to the East and they started to explores new routes by sea.

Important advances in navigation made it possible for European expeditions to travel long distances:

• Cartography. Portolan charts were nautical charts showing coasts, sea routes and possible obstacles.
• The compass. It was probably brought to the Mediterranean region by Arab merchants. It allowed ships to sail when land was not visible. Sailors could calculate latitude with the astrolabe and the quadrant.
• The log and sandglass. They helped to measure the ship’s speed.
• Caravel. It was a light ship designed by the Portuguese in the 15^th century.